Bo Hi Pak: Little Angels Labeled Envoys of Good Will

“These cute little boys and girls ingrained the true image of prospering Korea into the heart of thousands of foreigners. They played their role well as ‘ambassadors without portfolio. In this regard, our tour was worth more than making.”

This is the summary of a comment by Bo-Hi Pak upon returning to Seoul Thursday after leading 42 “Little Angels” in their four-month, five-nation performance tour.

“The foreigners we’ve entertained were all enthusiastic and the friendship between Korea and those countries has been deepened considerably, I can safely say,” the leader of the Angels said.

The countries the Korean children’s troupe toured were Britain (two months), the Netherlands (one week), France (one week), Hawaii (one week) and Australia (four weeks).

The Angels staged their first performance in London in mid-October, where they were accepted not as strangers since a previous Angels’ team visited there in 1971 for a Royal Command Performance, according to Pak.

The Little Angels performance for the UNICEF Festival in Holland was “a dramatic success.” Thousands in the audience including Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands at Congress Hall gave a prolonged standing ovation, according to Pak.

In Paris, the Little Angels performance was praised and chosen as the “best show” of 1972 by French National Television which filmed the entire show at the famed Olympia Theater for a one-hour television special for nationwide broadcast.

After a one-week Christmas show in Paris, the Little Angels took the long flight to Hawaii.

The Honolulu Star Bulletin wrote: “It was a stunning exhibition of folk dance.”

After Hawaii, the Little Angels flew thousands of miles to Sydney, Australia, Pak continued to say, to make a one-month performance tour in five major cities in Australia the first time in Little Angels’ history.

Prime Minister Edward G. Whitlam attended the performance in Canberra with many of his Labor Government cabinet members.

At the reception following the performance, the prime minister commented “I have seen the best exports of Korea,” Pak said.

Meanwhile team No. 2 of the Little Angels is continuing its successful performance tour in Japan and is scheduled to return home next month, it was reported.

“There is no doubt the Little Angels have brought glory to their homeland during their seventh worldwide performance tour,” the Angels, leader concluded.

Dutch Family Greets Little Angels

The whole Dutch Family turned out to cc the Little Angels’ performance for UNICEF at The Hague. The performance was broadcasted directly to Yugoslavia, and also video recorded by ‘Eurovision’, the European Television Organization, so that hundreds of millions of viewers in Europe and Africa would be able to see the Angels of Korea.

After the performance the Dutch Family “stormed up the stage” to shake hands with Mr. Pak and together with the Angels sang “Song of Korea” and “Tong-il.”